I&#39;m very curious about Albeau&#39;s thoughts and comments (regretably, I can&#39;t read French). Ideally, it would be a great highlight and feature on the introductory Starboard Website, if it&#39;s permissible.

While I have no clue if it&#39;s right I guess the fact that one probably does not have to jibe all that much in a long distance race might mean that a smaller board makes sense (given that it&#39;s probably faster at top speed) whereas in a slalom with many jibes getting away from the jibes quickly and being able to head above people on the course may be of more importance?

... but on the other hand in long distance races one might have to face wind changes of any kind.
Well here is my guess, agreeing with barks&#39; and making it just a little bit articulated. More board volume could help with the many jibes (slalom) while probably wind changes (long distance) are better dealt with keeping a smaller board for speed and using large sails (range).

Right, there are no specific technical design differences that gives some of iSonics fundamentally better long course or short course advantages (top speed vs accel/planing). Basically these boards represent A2&#39;s selection for his "large medium small" choices for both
long distance and short course racing. Obviously, very long legged "slalom" racing like the Defi warrants slightly different choices in board/trim/tuning than the short sharp downwind M stop/start style PWA slalom racing. Given the overall range of each of these designs, it might seem a little excessive, but I guess in Antoine&#39;s case it&#39;s not.

BTW, obviously the 97 is actually a 94 , while the 84 is the 87.

Also the finer choice/s of board/conditions relate very heavily to rider size/weight, style (power vs glide) and tuning. Some guys really like to go at it hard, fully powerd and at the same time loading the board pretty hard (larger boards..) while others in similar conditions take a more delicate approach and run with lower drag combos in similar conditions. Watch the two extremes in action, and the differences are very clear - which is why it&#39;s important to factor that in when considering or reviewing the "best" or "ideal" board for a given set of conditions..

Not many guys can put the hammer down (and load the board etc) in such a solid phyisical way as Antoine..

Well Ian, as you mention it, I was at the DEFI WIND long distance race last week, and Antoine did use also a iS111 for (at least) the first manche.... Just to prove how much value he attaches to what he said in that magazine.

Hi Steve C
Heres the translated artical from windsurfjournal.com. Artical is in general, not directed at Defiwinds.

Antoine Albeau

Height : 1.86m
Weight : 96kg
Number of boards used per year : 12
Number of sails used per year :19

From left to right..
1. Stand Up Paddle Board Gong 12’ "No Friend Attitude", as the name suggests, guaranteed to make you loads of friends at the surf spots, perfect for riding as many waves as possible in a short time, big or small. Super stable, manoeuvrable and fast.

2. Paddle : Select, superlight carbon-kevlar for SUP

3. Longboard Gong 10’ Astonishing longboard, very fast whether the waves a soft or well formed.

7. Starboard iSonic 133, 111 and 94 for the PWA contests, with Deboichet SL2 48/46 fins for the 133, SL2 42/40 for the 111, SL2 34/36 for the 94

8. Starboard iSonic 122, 101 and 87 for the Long Distance events, with Deboichet SL2 46/44 for the 122, SL2 42/40 for the 101, SL2 34/32/30 for the 87.

9. Sail Quiver of NeilPryde RS:Racing sails from 9.0m2 to 5.4m2 to cover all the rounds of PWA slalom, Euro Cup and Long Distance. The new RS are really incredible, we’ve managed to achieve a sail that’s more stable, better low end performance but with super power release in strong winds.

AA certainly has an extensive quiver of stuff. I don&#39;t doubt that he needs the Ford Transit to even begin to contain everything. It would be quite interesting to see how everything is organized in the van. I find that the various storage strategies that different folks use to be very interesting.

In reality, he probably has a garage or storage facility, and selects the specific equipment he anticipates using for different endeavors. The thing that&#39;s a bit mind boggling is that so much of his stuff is flipped yearly to make room for the new stuff. I wouldn&#39;t doubt that he probably has an agent that takes care of unloading and selling the prior years gear.